Southern Star Entertainment
Endemol Australia (formerly known as Southern Star Group, Southern Star Productions, Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia & Taft-Hardie Group Pty. Ltd.) is Australia's largest independent television production and distribution group. The company is currently a subsidiary of Endemol Shine Group. History The company began in 1972 as Hanna-Barbera Pty. Ltd. (Australia), an Australian division of Hanna-Barbera. In 1974, the Hamlyn Group acquired 50% of Hanna-Barbera Australia and appointed Neil Balnaves as managing director. In 1978, James Hardie Industries acquired the Hamlyn Group, and in 1979, Balnaves was promoted to managing director of the entire Hamlyn Group.http://www.southernstargroup.com/content/readnews.aspx?id=1510 In 1983, James Hardie Industries and Hanna-Barbera corporate parent Taft Broadcasting reorganized the division as Taft-Hardie Group Pty. Ltd. In 1984, the company established a division in Los Angeles known as Southern Star Productions, headed by Buzz Potamkin. Programs produced by this division would be animated at Hanna-Barbera's studios in Sydney, and carried the name Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia. In 1988, Neil Balnaves led an A$11 million management buyout of Taft-Hardie, reorganizing the company as Southern Star Group. The Sydney animation facilities were also sold, while the Los Angeles division continued to operate until 1991 when it was sold to Turner Broadcasting System. In April 2004, the company was acquired by Southern Cross Broadcasting and in 2007, by Fairfax Media. In January 2009, Endemol acquired Southern Star Factual from Fairfax Media in a transaction worth A$75 million, forming a division known as Endemol Southern Star. On 11 December 2013, Southern Star announced it would re-brand as Endemol Australia. Chief Executive Officer, Janeen Faithfull, stated "As Endemol Australia we’ll continue to build on the heritage and successes of Southern Star." On 15 November 2016, Mark and Carl Fennessy were appointed joint CEOs of Endemol Australia as well as its current parent company, Endemol Shine Australia.Endemol shine names Fennessy brothers as Joint Heads of Australian Unit, 15 november 2016, hollywoodreporter.com In 2023, ione of the Endemol units was officially folded into Shuriken Studios. Programs Prime-time drama *''Party Tricks'' *''Offspring'' *''Return to Eden'' *''Love My Way'' *''The Surgeon'' *''Blue Heelers'' *''The Secret Life of Us'' *''Always Greener'' *''Water Rats'' *''Marking Time'' *''Police Rescue'' *''Murder Call'' *''Rescue: Special Ops'' *''Wild Boys'' *''Rush'' *''Young Lions'' *''Blue Murder'' *''Dangerous'' *''Out of the Blue'' *''Fireflies'' *''Spirited'' *''Rain Shadow'' *''The Alice'' *''Tangle'' *''Puberty Blues'' *''Bed of Roses'' *''Big Sky'' *''Howzat! Kerry Packer's War'' *''All Saints'' *''McLeod's Daughters'' (Seasons 1 to 8 in 2001 to 2009) *''City Homicide'' *''Packed to the Rafters'' *''Echo Point'' *''The Beautiful Lie'' *''Cody'' *''Which Way Home'' *''Good Vibrations'' *''Gallipoli'' *''Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo'' *''Paper Giants: Magazine Wars'' *''Children of the Dragon'' *''Beaconsfield'' *''Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch War'' *''Police Crop: The Winchester Conspiracy'' *''On the Beach'' *''Joh's Jury'' *''Dripping in Chocolate'' *''Hard Knox'' *''Do or Die'' *''Wire in the Blood'' *''Police State'' *''The Last Frontier'' *''Remember Me'' *''A Difficult Woman'' *''A Place to Call Home'' Comedy *''Bad Cop, Bad Cop'' *''The Bob Morrison Show'' *''Dayne's World'' *''Legally Brown'' *''You Have Been Watching'' *''Con's Bewdiful Holiday Videos'' Children's *''A*mazing'' *''Foreign Exchange'' *''The Adventures of Sam'' *''Blue Water High'' *''RAGGS Kids Club Band'' *''The Sleepover Club'' *''Tracey McBean'' *''Cake Business!'' *''The Missed Christmas Presents'' *''The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and His Best Friend Corky'' *''Magic Mountain'' *''Snobs'' *''Drak Pack'' *''Dinky Dog'' *''Bananas in Pyjamas'' *''Faireez'' *''Ketchup: Cats Who Cook'' *''The Toothbrush Family'' *''Time Masters'' *''Wipeout'' *''CBS Storybreak'' (co-production with CBS Entertainment Productions) *''The Berenstain Bears Show'' *''Teen Wolf'' (co-production with Clubhouse Pictures in Season 1 and Atlantic/Kushner-Locke in Season 2) *''Marvin: Baby of the Year'' (TV special) *''Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue'' (TV special) *''Peter Pan and the Pirates'' *''Mad Scientist'' *''Hi-5'' *''Raggs'' *''Elly & Jools'' *''Kangaroo Creek Gang'' *''Don't Blame The Koalas'' *''Pig's Breakfast'' *''In Your Dreams'' *''Outriders'' *''Sea Princesses'' (revived by DHX Media in 2023) *''Stanley'' *''Y?'' *''A gURLs wURLd'' *''High Flyers'' *''Famous Classic Tales'' *''All for Kids'' *''Hairy Legs'' *''Classic Tales'' *''Sumo Mouse'' *''Snake Tales'' *''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' *''Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table'' *''The Wayne Manifesto'' *''Around the World in 80 Days'' Reality *''RPA'' – (1995–2012) *''Ralph TV'' – (2007) *''Battlefronts'' – (2008) *''Monster House'' – (2008) *''Garden Angels'' – (2009) *''No Leave, No Life'' – (2009–2012) *''Beauty and the Geek Australia'' – (2010–2011) *''Drug Lords'' – (2010) *''Real Prison Breaks'' – (2010–2011) *''Strictly Speaking'' – (2010) *''Undercover Boss Australia'' – (2010–2011) *''Balls of Steel Australia'' – (2011–2012) *''Big Brother Australia'' – Nine Network (2012–2014) *''Don't Tell the Bride'' – (2012) *''When Love Comes to Town'' – (2014) *''Mesmerised'' – (2015) *''Married at First Sight Australia'' – (2015–present) *''The Hotplate'' – (2015) Factual *''Animal Emergency'' *''Animal Lifeline'' *''Animals Did It First'' *''At the Zoo'' *''Crash Test Mummies & Daddies'' *''Elephants Empire'' *''Forensic Investigators'' *''Last Chance Surgery'' *''Next Wave'' *''Saving Africa's Witch Children'' *''Secret China'' *''Secret Nature'' *''Wild China'' *''Wild Orphans'' *''Meerkat Manor'' Films *''No Worries'' (1994) *''The Sum of Us'' (1994) *''Rough Diamonds'' (1994) *''The Well'' (1997) *''Serenades'' (2001) See also *List of film production companies *List of television production companies References External links * * *Endemol Australia Category:Television production companies of Australia Category:Australian animation studios Category:Endemol Category:Hanna-Barbera